Birmingham Stechford by-election, 1977

The Birmingham Stechford by-election, in Birmingham, on 31 March 1977 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Jenkins resigned his seat following his appointment as President of the European Commission. A seat that had been solidly Labour since its formation in 1950, it was won by Andrew MacKay of the Conservative Party, before being regained by Labour in 1979. The by-election was noted for the strong performance of the National Front candidate and the presence of two far left candidates.^[1]

Background

As a leading Labour sitting MP Roy Jenkins had hoped to become Foreign Secretary in the government of James Callaghan but was overlooked in favour of Anthony Crosland.^[2] Following this Jenkins was nominated as President of the European Commission in succession to François-Xavier Ortoli, a move which necessitated his departure from Parliament.

Candidates

With the seat being solid Labour Party territory the by-election presented the possibility of a return to Parliament for Terry Davis, who had served as member for the defunct Bromsgrove seat from 1970 until its abolition in 1974. Davis however failed to take the seat and began a pattern for the ailing Labour government who also lost the next by-election in Ashfield when David Marquand followed Jenkins to a role in the Commission.^[3]

It also left the governing Labour Party without a majority and resulted in a vote of no confidence being issued, although the government won and was able to cling onto power by forming a pact with the Liberals.^[4]

The Conservative candidate Andrew MacKay won the election with a majority of nearly 2000, although ultimately he would only hold the seat until 1979 when it was regained for Labour.^[5] MacKay would go on to enjoy a long parliamentary career representing a number of constituencies.

The Liberal Party candidate was Graham Gopsill, a Birmingham councillor who finished the by-election in a lowly fourth place. Gopsill would later serve the Liberal Democrats in Droitwich Spa until his death in 2009.^[6] He was beaten into fourth by National Front candidate Andrew Brons, a veteran of a number of far right movements and member of the NF National Directorate who eventually became NF chairman in 1980.^[7] Other candidates to appear on the ballot were leftist duo Brian Heron of the International Marxist Group and journalist Paul Foot for the Socialist Workers Party.

Results

Birmingham Stechford by-election, 1977[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew MacKay	15,731	43.4	+15.6
	Labour	Terry Davis	13,782	38.0	-19.6
	National Front	Andrew Brons	2,955	8.2	N/A
	Liberal	Graham Gopsill	2,901	8.0	-6.4
	International Marxist	Brian Heron	494	1.4	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Paul Foot	377	1.0	N/A
Majority			1,949	5.4	+12.3
Turnout			36,240
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election October 1974: Birmingham Stechford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roy Jenkins	23,075	57.6	+4.5
	Conservative	D. Wedgwood	11,152	27.8	-2.4
	Liberal	Graham Gopsill	5,860	14.6	-1.4
Majority			11,923	29.7	+6.9
Turnout			40,087	64.1	-1.7
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Full results
2. Rosen, Greg (2001) Dictionary of Labour Biography, Politicos, p. 318
3. 1977 by-elections
5. 1979 results
6. Obituary from local Liberal Democrats site
7. Duncan Campbell, 'Andrew Brons, the genteel face of neo-fascism', The Guardian 8 June 2009
8. "1977 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2015-09-17.